By John Jalsevac
CHICAGO, July 17, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a clarification to LifeSiteNews.com Cardinal Francis George of Chicago has denied allegations by the gay-activist Rainbow Sash Movement that the Cardinal himself and the archdiocese of Chicago are in any way supporting the 2006 Gay Games.
This past Friday Catholics and pro-family advocates were puzzled when the infamous Rainbow Sash movement published a press release congratulating the archdiocese of Chicago and Cardinal Francis George for their alleged support of a “religious roundtable” that will take place at the 2006 Gay Games.
“In a stunning gesture of good faith the Archdiocese of Chicago seems to be rethinking its relationship with the Gay and Lesbian Community,” said the press release. “The Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach Ministry (AGLO) has added its name to the sponsorship list of the ‘Faith and Fairness’ religious roundtable to be held July 16, 2006 at the Chicago Cultural Center.”
The release continued, saying that the Rainbow Sash movement “applauds Cardinal Francis George for allowing an official Ministry of the Archdiocese to be involved in the religious Round Table.”
The Rainbow Sash movement consists of a group of Catholics who persist in actively pursuing a homosexual lifestyle against the Church’s clear moral teaching, and who publicly broadcast this fact by wearing a rainbow sash.
Cardinal Francis George, however, in a statement to LifeSiteNews, responded vociferously to the allegations that he was in any way offering his support to the Gay Games. “The press release issued by the Rainbow Sash Movement is misleading and an exercise in manipulation of facts and of people,” said the Cardinal.
“The Rainbow Sash Movement has misrepresented the involvement of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach (AGLO) in the ‘Faith and Fairness’ Roundtable organized by Gay Games VII and the Human Rights Campaign.
“It is my understanding that AGLO was never asked by the Human Rights Campaign to be a sponsor of the religious roundtable, nor did they offer any support other than publicizing the event in their newsletter, Blaze, which is not routinely monitored by the Archdiocese.” This last clarification was in response to an unsubstantiated claim by the Rainbow Sash Movement that the AGLO newsletter was routinely monitored by the archdiocese, and therefore—the insituation was—whatever appears in the newsletter must be in total agreement with the official stance of the archdiocese and the Cardinal.
In fact, this is not the first time that the AGLO has followed a tack that is not in line with the Cardinal, the Chicago archdiocese and the Catholic faith. In the past the AGLO has denounced the Church’s longtime teaching that homosexual men are not to be admitted as candidates for the priesthood, accused the Vatican of “hate-filled comments” at the time of World Gay Pride, and criticized the Church for stemming its participation in notorious and thoroughly un-Christian Gay Pride events.
The Cardinal concluded, distancing himself from the AGLO’s choice to publicize the Gay Games event: “I was never informed by AGLO about a request to publicize the roundtable. Neither the Human Rights Campaign Fund nor the Rainbow Sash Movement consulted me about AGLO’s involvement with this event or my attitude toward it.”
The AGLO was not available for comment by press deadline.